Three of my Favorite Late-Game Job-Search Tips

Everyone, these days, knows the basics of a successful job search. If that's the case, how to you make sure that you get the job instead of the other guy who did everything right just like you? Well, aside from being more qualified, you can make yourself shine brighter than the rest of the competition. I've been reading through article after article looking for these little things that recruiters like to see, that not a whole lot of job seekers do, and I've picked up three very cool little points to talk about.

So, suppose you've already done your networking, and you've already submitted your resume to various recruiters. Next is the interview. It's game time, now. This is where you build the recruiters' interest in your own personal brand. Everyone's doing that, so here are some things you can do, that some people neglect.

An article was recently posted on New Grad Life listing off some various job hunting tips which we should all make ourselves aware of. While the tips are great, and very useful, only a single, brief piece of advice stands out to me. The article talks about following up, and how important it is. That's nice, but we should all know about this already. The big qualifier in that part of the article, though, is the emphasis on adding value to your follow-up call. The "Hi, I'm just calling to check up..."  situation seems all too common and mostly fruitless. Add a little value that can show the company you're still interested, and still doing your homework, and you'll be surprised how quickly they start to notice.

Though it's a good idea to follow up after your interview, you should first send a thank you note - ideally within the first 24 hours after the interview itself. Traditionally, these would be very formal letters mailed via the post, but these days that isn't necessary, and could even be detrimental. According to a short list of interviewing tips at Job Bound, only 25% of job seekers even bother to send a thank you note. Add the fact that positions need to be filled quickly, sending a thank you note via post may result in the letter not being received on time. The quickest way to express your thanks is by email! So, do yourself a favor and drop the recruiter a brief email after the interview to thank them for their time and consideration.

The last tip I found that I like is rather subjective. It specifically applies to phone interviews, but can be easily adapted to much more than that. Career Rocketeer says, "Don't Say Hello". The idea behind the article is that, usually, your phone interview will be scheduled just as a normal interview, and that you should be ready to answer the call professionally when it comes in. We won't all get phone interviews, but it's highly likely that we'll make some sort of contact via phone call with someone important in your job hunting process. These days, we commonly use cell-phones which have caller-id, or we have caller-id on our land-lines. If you've submitted your resume to anyone, you should always answer calls from unfamiliar numbers with "Hello, [first, last name] speaking." or something to that extent. This way, the awkward pauses depicted in "Don't Say Hello" will be avoided.

You can never go wrong if you adopt the above tips into your practice. They show the recruiters you're responsible as a candidate, and that's what they like to see.

Etiquette Keepsake - How to Eat your Dinner, Part 2

So there I was finishing up my soup, and just as I was putting another spoonful back, the waiter asked if he could take my dish. I wasn't quite ready for this, and it also seemed a pretty simple question to answer. After politely refusing his offer to take my dish, Robin told us that this isn't a regular occurrence. Normally servers are trained to look for placement of utensils as a signal that someone is finished with a particular dish. Placing the soup spoon to the side of the soup bowl signals that you are finished, and that the server may take the dish away.

Robin prompted us for questions, which none of us had, and so she pulled out a little cheatsheet lathered in great etiquette related questions. Questions like "Where does your napkin go when you get up from the table?" and "What do you do if your napkin falls on the floor?". Do you know what to do if a piece of your food falls on the floor? You leave it, and just be sure you don't step on it. What do you do if someone accidentally grabs your drink instead of theirs? Politely ask to use their drink.

I won't bore you too much with dinner. All you need to know is the chicken was delicious, the pasta was hard to eat properly, and it is not polite to use more than two packets of sugar in your tea, and if you are going to use two, open them at the same time. Also, if you eat an olive that is still stuffed with the pit, you need to be pretty dextrous to remove the pit from your mouth. You're supposed to place it onto the fork and put it on the plate.

Dessert was great, and it was supplemented well by Jan's presentation on interview attire. Like Mr. DaSaro, she did a good job keeping it up to date and connecting it with our generation, and there were good points made throughout its entirety. The biggest point I retained from the presentation is that the focus of the interview should be you - not your clothes. Wear something conservative and neutral. Distracting the interviewer with what you wear will sometimes tell him that you are hiding something. Another great point is that you really should shop with the intention to spend some decent cash. Buy the best clothing you can afford. To a point, more expensive clothes are produced with greater quality, and will probably fit you better. Look at it as an investment.

Jan finished her presentation without a microphone, and we transitioned to the Geomatics "Best Dressed" contest. All of the Geomatics students in attendance stood at the "front" of the room and we voted on who we thought was dressed the best. #10 was a sure shot for generalized criteria, but I really don't think his suit was appropriate for an interview. It didn't quite fit him properly, and looked kind of blocky, and I really think big jackets like his are more appropriate at the CEO level. Jackets are alright, just make sure that they don't make too much of a statement. Some of the other contestants were wearing outfits that looked more suited to some sort of formal. No one really seemed to be dressed for an interview, but that's just my opinion. Regardless, #10 got my vote, and also won the contest.

Robin shared her closing thoughts, praised our table, thanked our hosts, and I got to stand up along with Alicia and Amy to receive a round of applause for being Career Services student workers. That made my night, and brought an end to the event.

In conclusion, I had a great time. I learned a lot about proper dining, and got to have a decent dinner, too. Dining is such a complex game; not to be underestimated.

Etiquette Keepsake - How to Eat your Dinner

Take your seat after the host - napkin in your lap - elbows off the table - chew with your mouth closed....

These are basic table manners. Some of us grew up with them, others just seems just seem to know, and some haven't the slightest idea. This past Wednesday, February 17th, OIT Career Services put on ah event to carve these table manners into the minds of job seekers and students alike. We call it the Business Etiquette dinner.

The whole idea behind this is to prepare future or current job seekers for a quite important part of the job interview process; The Dinner. Some recruiters will invite an interviewee out to dinner to supplement the actual interview. This isn't just a night out, no. It's a full on second or third or whatever interview. So, naturally, OIT Career Services wants to make sure that our grads go into this just as prepared as they would any other interview.

I'm one of those kids who grew up in a family that doesn't sweat table manners. If I ate the food in front of me, my parents were happy, and I was happy. The only exposure to proper dining etiquette was through television, indirectly. And so I couldn't really understand what all the hubbub was about.

This night gave one of the most direct answers I could have asked for.

I was assigned to work the event, but I was encouraged to take part in it as well. The encouragement was rather strong, as I found my name was assigned to a table when I arrived. People began to show up and get their table assignments and name tags, and were told to wait outside the dining area. It seemed like everyone but me knew what they were doing. I saw and heard people greeting each other and talking about things that weren't always interesting. I shook a few hands myself and talked about some things that weren't interesting as well. I guess this is called mingling, and it happens all the time at conferences and conventions.

Mingling is very important. This is where a great deal of the magic happens. This is your chance to meet and learn about people who could be very useful in your networking structure, and in the process, allow them to learn about you. Your goal is to impress. As I mentioned before, this is another part of your interview process, no matter how little you're speaking directly with the interviewers. Make it count.

I was surprised how much small talk goes on. I'm not a big fan of small talk, because it doesn't get a whole lot done, and takes a long time, but it really is important. Knowing how to small talk shows you know how to be sociable, and if you do it correctly, can land you a new friend who could be in a high place. Just be sure to stay away from any topic that's more controversial than the high school uniform debate.

Robin Thompson, who was assigned to do part of the opening gave us a small talk about small talk (punny), and shared some pretty important mingling advice with us. First, turn your phone off. Phones are not only distracting to whoever you're talking to, but can also distract *you* from what you're talking about. Next, if there are appetizers or beverages, pass on the appetizers and, unless you absolutely need it, pass on the beverage. If you do find yourself carrying a drink, make sure you carry it in the hand that won't be shaking someone else's hand. Wet hands feel gross. Cold, wet hands even more gross. Lastly, be prepared for the aforementioned smalltalk. When someone asks you "What's new?" make sure you have something to reply back with before the question is even posed. "Not much" is never a good answer. She also explained the dnb concept to us, to save us any possible drink or bread related embarassment.

After this brief lecture, we moved inside. I was assigned to Robin's table, and since I had no idea what I was doing, I made sure to follow and observe my tablemates. Everyone was at the table standing behind their chairs, so I did the same. Robin pulled out her chair and say in it, and I did the same; after everyone else. Robin unfolded her napkin and placed it in her lap, and this time, I figured I didn't have to wait for everyone else. My plan had succeeded, and I knew it when Robin praised us for knowing not to take our seats until the host had. This made me feel good.

We spent some time introducing ourselves and doing the small talk thing again. I was kind of spaced out, but managed to retain what everyone else was saying about themselves, and say something about myself also. I phrased it different from the other people at the table, which would probably make me stand out. Nice.

At this point, Mr. Don DeSaro began his presentation on general etiquette do's and don'ts. He's a great public speaker, and he knew what points to stress and how to apply them to our generation. He briefly went over the layout of the table, which really resembled what I was seeing in front of me. At this point, I decided to practice Robin's dnb, and found that my bread plate was, in fact on my left side, and the drink on the right. I will never have to worry about grabbing someone else's drink again.

Mr. DeSaro also covered other interesting topics like drinking and partying, but not very much in depth. What I gathered is that we don't attend events for the food or the drinks. We attend them sometimes as part of an interview and every time for the networking. So don't treat them like a party, and keep your drinks under control. What you do at this event is just as important as what you did in your actually interview. Have people remember you for how qualified you are for your prospective job, not for how many invisible objects you trip over.

Some time near the end of Mr. DeSaro's speech, we were served the opening course of the meal; the soup. I'm not a fan of vegetable soups. Much less a fan of the onions that were in this particular soup. But I sucked it up and ate it, since I didn't know what else to do in this situation. Lucky for me, I was served last at my table, so I didn't have to be too concerned about waiting for everyone else to be served before starting. I realize now that I had stopped listening to Mr. DeSaro's presentation when the food showed up. I must have been hungry. I did, however, pick up the fact that being nice and *respectful* to the servers is just as important as being nice and *respectful* to the people you're dining with.

While we all dealt with the soups in front of us, we had some time to ask Robin some questions. I took this chance to ask about how common these set-course dinners were. Be prepared. At conferences and conventions, usually you don't get a menu, and you're served the same meal as everyone else. If you aren't a fan of something that they're serving, politely give the server a "No, thank you".

So, right now, I'm going to take an intermission. Part two on Monday!

Put your back into it! - Working to get your job...

Often times I hear the phrase "finding and landing a job is like a full time job", and I always agree. In fact, you should really treat it as more than a full time job. If you know what kind of work you want, you need to put your all into finding it, or else you may find yourself stumped. But just putting effort in isn't going to get you the job. The recruiters need to be able to see that you are working to get the job, and you're the one who's going to show them.

One of the first things a recruiter might see is your cover letter, which should be accompanying your resume. If you're applying for a job you found via some form of job post, take some time to address all of the individual job requirements, but keep it concise - your cover letter should be no more than a page long. This will help your cover letter stand out, and it'll show the recruiter not only that you are qualified for the job, but you know exactly how you're qualified.

Next, keep your resume clean, and up to date, and most importantly, tailored to the job you are interested in. Just like with your cover letter, try to find ways to indirectly connect your skills and experience to those things outlined in the job post. Put some serious thought into it, because your resume could put you past the "foot in the door" stage. Instead of "Worked as team leader in yard-planning project", get specific and tailor more to the management side. Specify what it is that you did as team leader, in terms of the details of the job you're gunning for. If the job requires experience in conflict management, you really need to emphasize how you resolved some conflict in the yard-planning project.

Continuing with the resume... These days, very few recruiters care that you're fluent in Microsoft Office. Hopefully you put your resume together using Office or some equivalent. Knowing Office is a given, so you can leave it out. You may also be exceptionally skilled with Adobe Photoshop, but if that isn't related to the job description, you should leave that out also. The point is, the skills you have that will help you be good at your jobs are the only important ones. If you put some effort into compiling this list, and keeping it concise, you'll save your recruiter some time and maybe keep their interest.

If your resume is successful in doing its job, you just may get an interview call. Be assertive. Take the earliest available time-slot you can, and work to be prepared for it. The sooner you get in there, the less chance there is that someone else will take the job out from under your nose. Make it work. If you're supposed to have lunch with a close friend, reschedule the lunch... friends will give you a second chance, but not all recruiters will.

Once your interview is scheduled, do some homework. The more you know about the target company, the smoother your interview should go. But don't just leave it at that. Form some questions based around your knowledge of the company. Instead of asking simple questions like "How many people work at this company?", ask something more valuable like "What sort of policies do you have in place to manage your employees?". This is the difference between an ignorant question, and an interested question. If you have some questions lined up that show your interest in how the company works, the recruiter will see that and remember it. And when the next guy with all the same qualifications comes in, that will be the determining factor in choosing who gets the job.

Lastly, put a good outfit together. Actually, before you try to do that, make sure you know what a good outfit for you would be. Your interview will be the site of your "first impression" in most cases, and the things you wear are crucial in keeping that first impression on the green side of the fence.

Don't stop there. If you can find other ways to put in a little extra effort, use them! Your efforts will be seen, and more often than not, they will pay off.

Career Fair Keepsake!

So OIT held it's annual Fall Career Fair this past Tuesday. I worked the fair from start to finish, and really built an appreciation for what goes on throughout the day. This was probably the smallest career fair I had attended since my Freshman year at OIT, but it was still tons of work and fun!

I got in to work about 10 minutes before 8am, and started doing my usual settling-in routine; checking new job posts, email, calendar... things like that. Not long after I had finished, Alicia showed up and opened the doors. It was time to do some REAL work. Jan briefed us on the day first, and then we set off finalizing pre-preparation preparations. We still had badges to have printed and put together for the recruiters, signs to put up, and table cloths to unfold.

My initial impression of the table cloths was dismal. A lot of them had holes in them despite it being their first use. More on this later.

Fast forward to when recruiters started showing up. I wasn't there. Jan had sent me back to sit in the office. I did return later to help greet more recruiters, though. A lot of them had some really cool setups, and hopefully I'll be able to post some photos of them later. At some point, students started to show up... but it wasn't time to start yet. Unfortunately, it seems we didn't have as much faculty support as we would have liked, and students weren't able to attend because of class. Definitely something to improve on!

The problem with students showing up early isn't really turning them away, but figuring out who is a student in the first place! A lot of the companies had sent pretty young recruiters, and it was never very obvious who was which.

We had some down time after the recruiters returned from the luncheon. Apparently it was closed down early, so I took the chance to talk to some of the recruiters who were representing companies I was interested in. Instead of just getting down to business, I decided to chat it up and actually connect on a more personal basis. I think this is the essence of networking, and it was really nice not having a line of people behind me breathing down my neck for their turn.

Once we opened, students started to trickle in. Alicia and I had two excellent volunteers to help us out. So first, I'd like to thank those guys for their time! Our goal was to have students enter the door prize drawing and fill out some surveys when they were finished talking to recruiters. We tallied about 240 students attending over the course of the four hours!

The initial rush was a little disappointing. Students were dressed as they would dress every day rather than how you'd expect them to dress at an interview. I was losing hope in this year's turnout, because of the smaller group of employers and the weak student representation. I knew from previous years, though, that the biggest rush would be some time around 2:30 or 3. And I was not disappointed. Reams of students rolled through, and our duo of volunteers presented their spiels to every single one. Not only were there lots of them, but they were mostly dressed to impress - these were the people who really wanted jobs.

At some point I noticed we were missing a couple of recruiters. Overlooking the US Army's massive tent and big-screen, I could see some empty tables. We also had some packets that weren't handed out yet. CPI showed up and revealed the greatest blunder of the day! We had lost their packet... very literally. I can still vividly remember looking through the packet and seeing the name badge inside of it, but have no recollection of what happened to it after that. It's still bugging me today.

I mentioned the US Army's tent in the previous paragraph. This is something impressive to me. It makes me wonder what portion of a company/organization's assets go toward researching recruiting. Some of the smaller companies had little more than a piece of poster board, while some of the larger companies had tall retractable signs and their own table cloths. Sure, the extravagence of the booths should scale with the size of the company, but it'd be interesting to see if the recruiting efforts extend past big signs and table cloths.

I had a chance to walk around again and talk with some more recruiters. You can really tell some of them are highly enthusiastic about recruiting from OIT, and on the flip side, you can see when some of them are just there because they were told to come. It's so easy to see, that sometimes it's even a turn-off for me, as a student. I want to go to a company that loves OIT grads, and I'm sure other OIT students think the same way. The easiest way to generate student interest, in my opinion, is to send down an OIT alum with your recruiters. We give them sweet blue lanyards that say "OIT Alumni" so they're easy to single out. "Seeing is believing" is such a true statement here, and there's no better way to show students that you hire from OIT.

On a side note, I snatched up some sweet SWAG (Stuff We All Get) after talking with some recruiters. GE brought some great lime-green frisbees. I got one. Schweitzer Engineering Labratories brought some killer retractable earbuds. I got a pair. Mentor Graphics handed out tons of awesome track bags. I got one in blue and one in green. I skipped all of the usual pens and stuff, though - my backpack has no open pen holders.

Eventually the rush settled down, and we were all able to have a seat. We were all getting tired of saying the same thing over and over, and we could finally relax a little bit.

It wasn't long before the recruiters started packing up. A lot of them had left before we had a chance to see them off, and only a few of them returned completed surveys. We appreciate those recruiters who spent some time on them! They're helpful in so many ways! Next time we'll make sure to point the surveys out when we hand out packets.

The employers had all left, and that meant clean-up time! This was easily the most satisfying part of the whole day. Alicia and I complained to Jan about the horrid quality of the table cloths, and she gave us the go ahead to trash them! Oh, was this a great moment. I grabbed up as many as I could and, all at once, shoved them into the recycling cart. No more hole-stained, fold-ridden, oversized paper towels in my near future. I am content.

But I still can't figure out where the CPI packet went.

Tips on Dressing for your Interview!

Interviewing can become the make-or-break for any job-hopeful. Do poorly on the interview, and you'll soon find yourself back in the hunt. But the interview isn't all about answering questions. The way you present yourself is just as important as knowing your stuff.

So, Alicia was surfing around one day when she found this GQ Feature, Project Upgrade: How to dress for the big interview. I took a look at this article, and it really does bring up some great points. Behind all of the corny photos, outrageous clothing prices, some strange jobs, and the fact that the feature is directed to men, there's a solid message for everyone!

Surprisingly, dressing yourself correctly can be quite a challenge if you've previously turned a blind eye to it. This feature shows it perfectly. It follows seven dudes who are getting ready for interviews at their prospective jobs. GQ says each guy has flaws in his attire, and since I'm not here to straight up repeat the things they wrote, I'll paraphrase.

Know your role. Know your interviewer's. Dress accordingly. Power-dressing, as some may call it, is a no-no. Don't give the interviewer the impression that you think you're better than him. You aren't the boss, yet, so don't try to trump him with your suit.

Be clean. It doesn't really matter how long you've been sporting a goatee, you need to nix it. It will grow back, anyway. Show your interviewer that you know how to groom yourself, and that will, in turn, show them that you're all about business.

Tone it down. There's no need to slap your interviewer in the face with the brightest colors you can muster. Color is great! But don't over do it... and make sure you match.

Size it up! Poor-fitting clothes can undo all of the points above. Invest the extra time and money to get your suit tailored, or find something that fits from the get-go. It's all about clean lines and minimal boxy-ness. Besides, if you get this job, you'll be able to get all the cool things you had to give up for this suit, right?

And lastly, be confident! Alright, that has little to do with the actual clothes you're wearing, but an interviewer can see right through the confident suit to an unconfident personality. That's what they're getting paid for.

That's about it. Hopefully this shed a little light on your interview-dressing woes. Sooooo know your role, be clean, tone it down, size it up, be confident, and then all you need is a good set of answers and a little luck! So here it is - good luck!